Synopsis

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Read all the books in the New York Times bestselling Splintered series: Splintered (*Book 1), Unhinged* (Book 2*), Ensnared (*Book 3*),* and Untamed (*The Companion Novel).*

Praise for Splintered:STARRED REVIEW

"Fans of dark fantasy, as well as of Carroll’s Alice in all her revisionings (especially Tim Burton’s), will find a lot to love in this compelling and imaginative novel."—*Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books*

"*Alyssa is one of the most unique protagonists I've come across in a while. Splintered is dark, twisted, entirely riveting, and a truly romantic tale."—*USA Today

"Brilliant, because it is ambitious, inventive, and often surprising — a contemporary reworking of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,’’ with a deep bow toward Tim Burton’s 2010 film version."—*The Boston Globe*

"It’s a deft, complex metamorphosis of this children’s fantasy made more enticing by competing romantic interests, a psychedelic setting, and more mad violence than its original."—*Booklist*

" Protagonist Alyssa...is an original. Howard's visual imagination is superior. The story's creepiness is intriguing as horror, and its hypnotic tone and setting, at the intersection of madness and creativity, should sweep readers down the rabbit hole."—*Publishers Weekly*

"While readers will delight in such recognizable scenes as Alyssa drinking from a bottle to shrink, the richly detailed scenes that stray from the original will entice the imagination. These adventures are indeed wonderful."—*BookPage*

"Attention to costume and setting render this a visually rich read..."—*Kirkus Reviews*

"Wonderland is filled with much that is not as wonderful as might be expected, and yet, it is in Wonderland that Alyssa accepts her true nature. The cover with its swirling tendrils and insects surrounding Alyssa will surely attract teen readers who will not disappointed with this magical, edgy tale."—*Reading Today Online*

Kind of Bleh

So the cover for this book is completely gorgeous, and the summary sounded promising too, the focus on talking to bugs and flowers in particular.
In the end, however, this book kind of turned me off.
# # #
Things That Annoyed Me:
First of all, it was much darker than I expected. Probably should have seen that coming since the cover's pretty eerie and it's a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, which people enjoy twisting to the dark side. I assumed the creepiness would be more of a sinister undertone, but instead it often came to the forefront. On the first page I learned that due to Alyssa, our main character, hearing bugs talk, she has become obsessed with killing bugs to stop them from disturbing her. Then she uses the bugs in her art.
A protagonist who kills bugs that easily? Well, I guess I kill a certain number of bugs. But if I could hear them talking I don't think I could be quite so casual about it, even if I did think I was going crazy.
The love triangle annoyed me too.
Side one of love triangle: Jeb Holt. An over-protective older brother figure for Alyssa. Don't get me wrong, I love big brother figures. If he could have stayed like that instead of becoming a love interest, if their relationship could have stayed platonic, I would have loved this book a whole lot more. But no, we can't have that. That might actually teach Alyssa that she can't have everything she wants and every person she's attracted to, which might force her to mature.
In short, Jeb was far too controlling for my tastes. He also just didn't feel developed or real. Every time something happened that was supposed to prove his "love" for Alyssa I would find myself squinting and feeling skeptical. Like, did Jeb really do that? Considering most of the time he's a jerk it seems a little OOC.
Oh yeah, and he already has a girlfriend. It's just that he finds Alyssa more attractive so he's decided to pursue her anyways, without really settling things with his girlfriend first. Classy.
Side two of love triangle: Morpheus. A strange Wonderland being called a netherling. Apparently he has something of an established relationship with Alyssa because they've met in her dreams before, and he is devoted to her. But he constantly manipulates Alyssa, belittles Jeb out of jealousy and wavers between "love" for Alyssa and his own selfish desires.
Still better than Jeb, with a bit more character depth. But it makes me truly sad that he becomes the first choice. If there were a good, solid alternate love interest to take Jeb's place I would have had a lot of fun rooting against him because he makes an excellent villain.
That said!
Why on earth did there have to be so much focus on the love triangle in the first place? It's not me obsessing over it, no, it dominated most of the book. If Alyssa isn't obsessing over Jeb you can be sure she's thinking about Morpheus. Why can't Alyssa just be an independent woman and fight her own battles, and dump both of these dudes like the jerks they are?
# # #
Things I Actually Enjoyed:
There were a lot of ingenious moments in the novel. Though they mostly came across as side notes rather than essential. In particular there were a few magical odds and ends that I loved, such as a box that can imprison a person and, once containing the person, will only show the person's head floating in a black liquid rather than their full body. Also some rather helpful clams.
There was also some nice prose. In particular there were some very vivid descriptions of butterfly wings that helped to bring the story to life for me.
And the twists and turns of the plot kept me confused and turning pages, even though it was partly out of a frustrated curiosity to see if Alyssa would ever wise up and stop letting people control her.
Still, not particularly recommended. Although the cover is still gorgeous

by Medina G.on September 08, 2015

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Lewis Carroll meets Tim Burton

Loved this book! Alice's descendants learn the truth about Wonderland and the truth about themselves in this creepy fairy tale

by Meaganon November 27, 2013

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Wonderful

A great spin on the Alice in Wonderland saga. I enjoyed it more than the Carrol books. Jumped straight into Unhinged after finishing it and can't wait for the next in the series.

by Erinon September 14, 2014

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A promising premise ...

Poorly executed. The romance aspect of the book was childish and oversimplified. That might have been ok if the main plot was developed. Instead discussing infatuation killed the plot

by Andrewon January 03, 2015

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Splintered

Amazing book! Absolutely must read because I never wanted to put it down :)